stupid 3tgte question(sorry is a real noob question)

[lilcrash]

hey,

i am just wondering how much oil i need to put in my 3tgte after i do an oil change??

wen i had first put in 3 litres it said it had 75 psi oil pres, but after turning it off and starting it again it had 0 psi oil pres, after talking to ppl, i guessed it might need 4 litres so i tried that, still no oil pressure, now i have 4.5 litres in it and still got no oil pressure.

thank you

[oldcorollas]

well.. generally you fill it until you reach the mark on the dipstick.

if you have oil, but no oil pressure, either your gauge is rooted, or you have no oil pressure...
get any nasty knocking sounds? = no oil pressure.

was the engine dissasembled? the K/T/R series pumps are held on by one bolt and can fall out!.

also after oil AND filter change, you need to turn the engine over for a bit to get the oil filter full.... better to do this with coil disconnected.

[peedman]

Dont overfill ur engine oil as it can potentially cause parts to be under lubricated. As mentioned turn the engine over, then check the dipstick then go from there.

[lilcrash]

the dipstick says ive got about 2-3 litres too much oil. which woudl mean that the dipstick is wrong or it only needs 2 litres of oil. there is no nasty noises, the enigne was just drained and refilled as i thought there was too much oil in it.

[broken22]

Sounds like you have the wrong dipstick for the engine, is the 3TGTE dipstick different to other T series engines? my guess is they are slightly different as the sumps are not the same.

I would be getting to the bottom of the apparent Zero oil pressure problem very quickly, it does not take long for a engine to be stuffed.

What are you using to measure oil pressure?

[TA22 GT]

Lilcrash,
A 3T GTE should hold a total of around 4.5 litres of oil. The sump is the same as a 2TG and the block is almost identical too. Something doesn't sound right with your dipstick if its not showing to be full when theres around 4.5 litres.

If you don't have oil pressure with even 4 litres of oil there is a major problem.

My guess is that the problem is a faulty oil pressure sender unit. To check the gauge earth out the wire of the sender and see that the gauge goes to maximum pressure, if so the wiring and gauge is fine. Still no pressure then change the sender unit.

If after that you determine the gauge etc is good and there really isn't pressure then I would take the valve cover off and see that oil is coming out of the cam holder bearings with the engine just cranking over, take of the main lead to ensure the engine won't run.
If theres no sign of oil then either the oil pump is stuffed or some other failure somewhere.

But like I said, I'd put money on the sender unit being faulty.

Cheers,
Simon

[lilcrash]

im running an autometer oil pressure guage(electronic), it went to full wen i earthed it out.

how much possibility is there that the oil pump isnt working/fallen out, like there isnt any werid noises or nething. later today i will start the car and play with the sender and see if i can get it to work.

thanks for the help

[TA22 GT]

An oil pump failure is possible, however if the engine has been running for a while showing no pressure its most likely the sender unit.

The engine will only go for a short time without oil before it will start making noises and potentially seize.

Do you have the right sender unit?

Like I said before, to be sure you could take the valve cover off and check oil is making it to the cams etc which will confirm the pump is working or not.

Cheers,
Simon

[broken22]

See if you can borrow a mechanical oil pressure guage to check pressure. I would not personally NOT start this engine again until your oil pressure problem is sorted.

[lilcrash]

im using the sender that came with the guage, almost $300 worth of guage u would expect it to work propely. i might take the wire off and see if its just got a contact problem.

taking the tappet cover off isnt exactly an idea as it wont come off, its stuck on, if nesesary i will put the engine crane on it and rip it off but yer.

is there any other ideas to see if its working??

[TA22 GT]

You could loosen one of the banjo fittings that are on the oil line near the water thermostat, crank it over and see oil flows out with it loose.

The other thing is that the sender unit needs to earth onto the block. Did you use thread tape on the sender? If you have a multi meter check that the sender unit body is earthed to the car through the block...Also check that the earth is good between the botoom of the block and the chassis itself.

Hope that helps,

Simon

[lilcrash]

yer i used thread tape, hmm i think that sounds like a good possibility. brb one sec and il check.

we have a winner. there is no earth on the sender. how do i fix it now without making it leak. also will my 2tgeu dipstick work??

[TA22 GT]

The 2TG dipstick should be fine.

Just use one turn of thread tape. The thread should be tapered BSP so it should seal up without any problems.

Cheers,
Simon

[lilcrash]

thank you very much for all your help

it had a piece of thread tape stuck in the hole. and now it wont go back in cause it was cross threaded, so now i gotta buy a new sender.

laterdays

[lilcrash]

i think i will just lie down and cry, i can use my old sender if i bolt it into the bottom of the thermostat housing, ive test fitted it on my spare engine and it will work, but then my fan will hit it . i think i should just give up.

laterdays